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In 1909 Munya, my mother’s older brother, was born. Munya entered the Military Communications College after finishing school and became a professional soldier. When World War II broke out he held the rank of lieutenant and was sent to the front. He went through the whole war and finished it in as a major. His wife Fania and son Abram (Abrasha), who was born in 1938, stayed in Kamenets-Podolsk during the war and were shot by the Germans in 1941. Their bodies were thrown into the sewer. After the war my uncle married a Jewish woman from Novograd-Volynskiy. They had a son named Roman who lives in Germany now. In 1946 Uncle Munya entered the Military Academy. After graduation he got an assignment in Murmansk. He lived there until his demobilization in 1952. Then he returned to Novograd-Volynskiy, his wife’s hometown. He died in 1968.
I don’t know any details of my grandparents’ life during World War I and the civil war. I don’t know whether there were any pogroms in their town – they never told me anything about it. What I do know is that my grandfather Haim Altman took part in the civil war and fought on the side of the Reds. I don’t know how he got to the front. He was there less than a year when he was wounded during one of the combat actions against the White Polish army. As a result, he lost his leg and returned home to Kamenets-Podolsk. This happened some time in 1918.
Afterward, as he couldn’t do hard physical work any more, he learned to make shoes and became a shoemaker in a shop. The family’s living standards dropped, but they didn’t get upset. They supported each other and did their best to survive. They continued to celebrate all the Jewish holidays and attend synagogue. On Friday my grandmother always lit a candle, and on Saturday her Ukrainian neighbor came to help around the house and take care of the poultry yard and cattle. My grandmother always made matzo at Pesach and even sold some to her Jewish neighbors. At home my grandmother and grandfather spoke Yiddish, and my mother knew Yiddish very well, too.
I don’t know any details of my grandparents’ life during World War I and the civil war. I don’t know whether there were any pogroms in their town – they never told me anything about it. What I do know is that my grandfather Haim Altman took part in the civil war and fought on the side of the Reds. I don’t know how he got to the front. He was there less than a year when he was wounded during one of the combat actions against the White Polish army. As a result, he lost his leg and returned home to Kamenets-Podolsk. This happened some time in 1918.
Afterward, as he couldn’t do hard physical work any more, he learned to make shoes and became a shoemaker in a shop. The family’s living standards dropped, but they didn’t get upset. They supported each other and did their best to survive. They continued to celebrate all the Jewish holidays and attend synagogue. On Friday my grandmother always lit a candle, and on Saturday her Ukrainian neighbor came to help around the house and take care of the poultry yard and cattle. My grandmother always made matzo at Pesach and even sold some to her Jewish neighbors. At home my grandmother and grandfather spoke Yiddish, and my mother knew Yiddish very well, too.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Zinaida Leibovich